


Rumours Fly

by rainsoakedshoes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe - Human, Background Cora Hale/Lydia Martin - Freeform, Background Relationships, Cheating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Infidelity, M/M, Mutual Pining, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 04:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4550061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainsoakedshoes/pseuds/rainsoakedshoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We pretend to be a couple. Say we pretend for a month; your mom’s happy, the gossip mongers get a story – which we can laugh at all we want – then we can have the most disastrous break up in recorded history, and never have to speak again.”</p><p>“Has anyone ever told you that you have really stupid plans?” Derek asked</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rumours Fly

**Author's Note:**

> this is my birthday present to the beautiful Rennie, i really hope you like it angel. 
> 
> Stiles and Derek are rich, entitled jerks in this and i had a lot of fun writing it

The hall was already packed full of people when Derek arrived. There were men in tuxedos, and women in dresses and jewels that cost more than some people earn in a lifetime. A string quartet was set up on the left side of the space, playing an uplifting piece. It could have been a Mozart composition, but Derek couldn’t be sure; he’d never had a very good ear for classical pieces.

The open bar was set up on the right side of the hall, and Derek headed straight there. He was half way across the space when someone grabbed him by the arm. Derek closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened his eyes again his two sisters were standing in front of him.

“You don’t want to get wasted before the speeches even start,” Laura said.

“Oh, I think that’s exactly what I want to do,” Derek countered.

“And I wish you would have let me set you up with a date for tonight,” Laura continued, as if Derek hadn’t spoken.

“Yeah, that was never going to happen,” Derek said.

“You could have given it a chance,” Cora told him. She reached up to fix Derek’s bowtie and he swatted her hands away. The bowtie already felt too tight around his neck.

“You’re not the one that’s she’s trying to set up,” Derek pointed out. God he was a grown man, he didn’t need his family trying to set him up on dates. It wasn’t like he had trouble getting dates. If had wanted to bring someone to the charity event then he would have.

“That’s because my relationships last more than a couple of weeks,” Cora said.

“Are you telling me you wanted me to stay with Jenifer?” Derek asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. He had been with Jennifer for two weeks, but that had been more than enough.

“Of course not,” Cora said. “She was crazy. But you do raise another great point: I also have a better taste in dates.”

“You’re going to see mom and dad before the speeches and wish them luck,” Laura told Derek when he tried to leave for the bar again.

Derek suppressed a groan. A waiter carrying a silver tray with flutes of champagne passed by, and Derek plucked two glasses off the tray. Before his sisters could stop him Derek downed one of the drinks. He handed the empty glass to Laura and gave her and Cora a toothy grin.

“Let’s do this,” he said.

A number of people tried to engage Derek in conversation as he made his way through the crowd, but he ignored all of them. Laura and Cora apologised on his behalf.

His parents were sitting at their table with the mayor. Derek stopped in his tracks because if the mayor was there that meant…

“Nice to see you, Derek.”

Stiles. Of course Stiles was there, supporting his father, the mayor, in the same way Derek was there to support his parents.

Derek nodded in recognition at the young man, but didn’t say anything.  

Talia smiled when she saw her son. “Derek!” She said. “I was starting to worry you wouldn’t show up!”

Derek laughed and bent down to kiss his mother on the cheek. “You have no idea how close I was,” Derek whispered in her ear.

Talia squeezed Derek’s arm a little too hard, but gave him a sweet smile. “We’re just about to go up to the stage.”

“And I was coming over to wish you luck for your speeches.” Derek said. “It’s good to see you again Mayor Stilinski.” Derek offered his hand to the older man who shook it firmly.

“It’s good to see you as well, Derek,” The Mayor said.

The Hale’s and The Mayor walked away from the table, over to the stage. Derek looked around and noticed that some point Laura and Cora had left as well. Derek sighed and sat down at the table, with two seats between himself and Stiles.

Stiles shifted in his seat and tugged at the collar of his shirt. He looked about as comfortable in evening wear as Derek felt. Stiles wasn’t wearing a tux like Derek and most of the other men, but the suit he was wearing was obviously expensive, well-tailored; possibly Armani, Derek knew his suits just a little better than his classical music. Stiles either knew how to dress himself or someone was using him to play dress up. Knowing how Stiles used to dress in high school Derek suspected it was the latter.

“I liked your latest mug shot, Derek,” Stiles said in a conversational tone. “You look more and more homeless in each one.”

Derek smirked. He knew this was coming. He and Stiles didn’t see each other very often, but the Hale’s were the biggest backers of the Mayor’s re-election campaign, so they were often at the same public events. Since Cora and Stiles were good friends, their parents had hoped that Stiles and Derek would also be friends, and that the solidarity would benefit everyone. Instead Derek and Stiles had fallen into a pattern of sarcasm and passive aggressive insults (emphasis on the aggressive part).

“Thanks,” Derek said. “How was your latest stint in rehab?”

“Fantastic,” Stiles smiled. “You should really try rehab sometime.”

Before Derek could say anything to that Mayor Stilinski was on stage, ready to start his speech. The first of many long speeches that the night held.

Neither Derek nor Stiles paid much attention to any of the speeches. They both applauded at the appropriate times. Stiles actually looked up when his father made his speech. Derek had been the one to proofread his mothers’ speech and already knew it by heart; although he did applaud more forcefully for her than he had for any of the other speakers. It was a charity fundraiser for underfunded schools in Beacon Hills. A noble endeavour in theory, in practice however it was less about the charity and more about smooth talking and networking.

When the speeches were over a woman walked up to the table Stiles and Derek were sitting at.

“Hi there, I’m Heather with _Beacon Hills Digital_.” She introduced herself with a bright smile. “I was wondering if I could get some comments from both of you.”

The two men looked at each other. Derek shrugged; Stiles nodded.

Stiles was the mayors’ son. Derek was the only son of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the city, he was also a fashion model and had done spreads in both domestic and international magazines. They both also had a well-documented history of partying, drugs, and fights. Derek and Stiles, along with their group of friends, were the closest things to celebrities that Beacon Hills had.

“It’s nice to see the two of you here supporting your parents,” Heather said. “However people are surprised to see the two of you together. As far as I understand there’s been a long standing feud between the two of you.”

Stiles smiled to himself. So Heather was a gossip columnist. He liked to mess with those. Before Derek could say something and ruin his fun, Stiles spoke up.

“That’s nonsense,” Stiles said. “Derek and I have known each other for years. This _feud_ is nothing but misunderstandings that the media has blown out of proportion.”

Technically Stiles wasn’t lying; nothing the media had published about him and Derek had been true. While Derek’s arrests for Drunk and Disorderly behaviour were true, as were Stiles’ stints in rehab, the media had no solid proof of them disliking each other; the media just spread word of mouth information.

“Is that true?” Heather asked Derek.

Derek looked at Stiles who was grinning broadly. He and Stiles may not have been be close friends, but Stiles was close with Cora, only three years separated them in age and they shared a common group of friends. So Derek had spent a lot of time around Stiles over the years at various parties and more formal events, and he knew Stiles’ love for practical jokes. It wasn’t at all surprising that Stiles would want to mess with a reporter.

“Sure,” Derek nodded. “Stiles and I actually have a lot in common. Any talk of a feud is ridiculous.”

Heather jotted down some notes in a notebook she had produced from her purse. “That’s good to hear. So the two of you came together to the event tonight?”

“No, we arrived separately,” Stiles said. “But we’re both happy to be here together to support my dad and Derek’s parents, as well as this more than worthy cause.”

“Stiles, you just got out of rehab, didn’t you?” Heather asked. “How are you doing now? Any trouble coming back into your normal life?”

Stiles stiffened a little bit at that. He hadn’t minded Derek making jabs about his rehab stay, but that was because he always had a comeback when it came to Derek. Heather, on the other hand, was different. Stiles didn’t know anything about her, and insulting a reporter would never end well.

“I’m doing really well,” Stiles said. There was no use denying that he was in rehab, that was common knowledge, but he wasn’t going to give away any details.

Heather looked at Derek. “Derek you’ve had your own struggles with alcohol, have you ever considered rehab?”

Derek crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s funny you say that,” he said. “Earlier tonight Stiles was talking about how I should consider rehab.”

“So-”

“Sorry, Heather,” Derek interrupted. “But we should really go see our parents now.”

Heather smiled and nodded. “Of course,” she said. “Thank you so much for giving me a few minutes.” She tucked her notepad back into her purse and walked away.

“You could have given her a little more time,” Stiles said. “I think we could have convinced her that you’re actually going into rehab.”

Derek downed the last of his champagne. “If you think she would have believed that, maybe next time we can convince her you’re taking a vow of celibacy.”

“It’s always so much fun talking to you, Derek,” Stiles said, before standing up and walking away from the table.

*

Stiles’ phone buzzed on the top of his bedside table. Stiles groaned and rolled over, grabbing his ringing phone.

“‘Ello?”

“Stiles it’s Derek, we need to talk.”

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut. “How did you get my number?”

“From Cora,” Derek said. “But that’s not the important part.”

Stiles pulled the phone away from his ear and opened his eyes. His phone told him that it was 9:30am. “What are you doing calling me this early? Didn’t you once publically state that you’re the king of sleeping in past midday?”

“I said that?” Derek asked. “Never mind, that doesn’t matter. What matters is why I’m calling.”

“Why are you calling?” Stiles asked again. He finally sat up and threw the covers off of himself.

“If you stopped interrupting I would tell you,” Derek sighed. “Remember Heather, the reporter from last night? She posted a story about the two of us first thing this morning, about being at the charity event together.”

“So?” Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose, he didn’t understand why Derek was bothering him. “It seemed pretty obvious that’d be the outcome.”

“Yeah, you’re not getting it,” Derek said. “She wrote the article about _us_ being there _together_. She thinks we’re a couple, and now thanks to the article so do all of her readers.”

“Fuck.” Stiles ran a hand through his hair. “How many hits does it have?”

“Two thousand unique hits in just over an hour and a half,” Derek said. “Apparently Beacon Hills Digital is bigger than I first thought. It won’t be surprising if by the end of the day the local news is running with this.”

“What did she write?”

“ _Derek and Stiles were happy to be at the event together to support the charitable cause that the Hales and Mayor Stilinski are long-time supporters of.”_ Derek quoted. “Then she goes on to say: _After a thirty day stay in a rehab facility Stiles says he is doing well, and has even been offering advice and support to Derek who is struggling with his own demons.”_

Stiles snorted. “Oh man, that is gold.”

“It’s not funny,” Derek said.

“Okay, okay, it’s not funny,” Stiles conceded. “So what do you want to do? Tweets denying that we’re in a relationship?”

“I think that’s a start,” Derek agreed. “And I think we should request that they take down the article, or do some kind of retraction.”

Stiles nodded, then realised that Derek couldn’t see him. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

“You will make the public tweet won’t you?” Derek prompted.

“Oh my _God_ ,” Stiles groaned. “If I tweet it now will you fuck off and let me go back to sleep?”

“I would have thought the rehab stay would have left you with a better sleep schedule.”

“All of us have vices, Derek.” Stiles sighed. “Instead if booze mine is now late mornings. Now if I make the tweet will you fuck off?”

“Yes,” Derek said. “Her twitter handle is @HeatherBHD”

Stiles’ laptop was still on the side of the bed where he had left it when he had fallen asleep. He woke it up and opened a new webpage. As he waited for Twitter to load Stiles’ could hear Derek’s breathing on the other end of the line.

“Okay,” Stiles said. “How’s this sound: _@HeatherBHD posted an article claiming @DHale and i are in a relationship. this is 100% false and ridiculous. Derek and i are not dating_.”

“How’d you know my twitter?”

“I pay attention Derek,” Stiles said. “Now how did the tweet sound?”

“Yeah it sounds good,” Derek said. “I’m going to post one too.”

“Great.” Stiles posted the tweet. “I’ll ask for the article to be taken down when I wake back up. Goodnight, Derek.”

“It’s almost 10am.”

“ _Goodnight_ Derek,” Stiles repeated.

Stiles hung up the phone and tossed it down to the bottom of his bed. He looked back at his laptop and saw he had several new notifications. Some were favourites and replies to his latest tweet; no one he actually knew. At the top sat Derek’s mention of him.

**_@DHale: @HeatherBHD posted an article saying @S_Stilinski and i are dating; wanted to go on record saying this is FALSE. there is no relationship_ **

Stiles closed his laptop and rolled back over, pulling his blankets up over his head.

*

At 12:30 Stiles was woken once again by his phone ringing. He swore and reached down, digging around in the blankets trying to find it. Stiles flicked the blankets and he heard the phone land with a thud on the floor beside the bed. When Stiles tried to lean over the edge of the bed to reach the phone, he ended up on the floor next to it.

“Jesus fucking _Christ_ ,” Stiles swore as he finally grabbed the phone. He answered it in a less than cheery tone. “Hello?”

“Stiles,” his dads’ voice came through the line. “How are you doing?”

“Other than people who keep waking me up with phone calls?” Stiles asked. “I’m fine.”

“Who else called you?” John asked.

“No one.” Stiles rearranged himself so he was sitting cross legged on the floor. “What’s going on?”

“My secretary linked me to a very interesting article this morning,” John kept his voice neutral.

Stiles groaned. “The thing about me and Derek? Yeah, I know about that, and we’re taking care of it.”

“ _We’re_ taking care of it,” John repeated. “So does this mean you and Derek actually had a civil conversation? Is he the other person who called you this morning?”

“Yes,” Stiles admitted. “He called me this morning to tell me about the article. Heather, the reporter, she ambushed us last night and started asking questions. We said some innocuous things and she blew it all way out of proportion.”

“You know if you are dating Derek you could tell me.”

“Dad!” Stiles exclaimed. “We’re not dating!”

“You said the same thing when you were with Danny,” John pointed out. “And when you were with whatshisname, Oliver?”

“Dad,” Stiles started.

“Anyway,” John interrupted. “I have a lunch meeting to go to. I’m glad you’re doing well.”

“I’m not dating Derek!” Stiles shouted into the phone, but it was already too late, John had hung up.

*

Laura showed up at Derek’s door unannounced and uninvited just after 3pm. She let herself in with her key when Derek didn’t open the door for her.

“I’m going to change the locks to this place one of these days,” Derek threatened. He was lying on the couch reading, and he didn’t look up at Laura.

“No you’re not,” Laura said. “I’m surprised you’re even here. I thought you might be out with your new boyfriend.”

Derek closed his book. “I’m not dating Stiles. Some reporter talked to us and made up some bullshit story. I’ve already contacted her editor asking for the article to be taken down, and a retraction to be published.”

“Mom called and asked me what I knew about it.” Laura put her bag down on the coffee table and sat on the armchair.

“Why didn’t she just call me?” Derek asked.

“Because she knows that you’d lie and say you weren’t dating him even if you were.” Laura was sitting sideways in the chair, with her legs over one armrest.

“I’m not dating Stiles,” Derek said again.

“I think mom will be disappointed to hear that.”

Derek sat up and looked at his sister. “What? Why?”

“She thinks since Stiles is sober now he might be a good influence on you,” Laura said with a shrug.

“I’ve heard Stiles Stilinski described as a lot of things, but a good influence was not one of them,” Derek said. “What does dad think?”

“I didn’t speak to him,” Laura said. “But mom says that he feels the same way she does. They like Stiles.” She stood up and grabbed her purse off the table.

“And they know how much I don’t like Stiles.”

“Did you ever think that maybe you spend too much time trying to dislike him?” Laura asked.

“No.”

Laura shrugged again. She headed over to the door and pulled it open. “All I know is you could do a lot worse than Stiles,” she said. Laura stepped out of the apartment, making sure the door locked behind her.

Laura had come all the way over to spend thirty seconds bouncing around his apartment and grilling him over his non-existent relationship. If it had been anyone else Derek would have been annoyed, but that’s just how Laura was. She was always on the moved, but always managed to find a little bit of time to interrogate Derek over whatever was happening in his life that given week.

Derek reached over and picked up his phone that had been sitting on the coffee table. He opened a new message to send to Stiles.

 **[From Derek]:** my parents saw the article. my mom rang laura to ask if we’re dating. apparently mom thinks you’d be a good influence on me

It took a few minutes for Stiles to reply.

 **[From Stiles]:** has ur mom ever met me? im a terrible influence. ask anyone

 **[From Derek]:** for some reason she likes you.

 **[From Stiles]:** my dad saw the article too. i told him we’re not dating, but i dont think he believes me

 **[From Derek]:** why wouldnt he believe you?

 **[From Stiles]:** i have a habit of lying about when im in relationships

 **[From Derek]:** same. i think thats why mom called laura to ask instead of me

 **[From Stiles]:** hopefully this will all die down soon. maybe taylor swift will do something tomorrow and the tabloids will have something else to report on.

 **[From Derek]:** hopefully

That was the end of the conversation. Derek tossed his phone back onto the table and scrubbed a hand over his face. This was getting ridiculous. In what world would he ever want to date Stiles?

*

Stiles sipped his coffee and looked around the coffee shop. It was just past the lunch rush and the crowd was starting to thin out. The coffee shop was a boutique place, not part of a chain, and Stiles liked it. Someone had recommended it to him months ago, but he hadn’t checked it out until he had gotten out of rehab.

It had been almost two weeks since his stay had ended, and Stiles was still readjusting to normal life. For a month every hour of his day was structured, and now he was left to his own devices; it was hard to keep busy. He was thinking about going back to school, but he would have to wait until the new semester for that. He could get a job, but he didn’t have the best track record or resume, and he didn’t want to rely on his dads influence to get a job. For now he was happy to hang out at coffee shops.

However he was surprised to see Derek walk in. His surprise only lasted until he remembered who had recommended the place to him: Cora. If Cora knew about the coffee shop then it was only reasonable that Derek knew about it too.

Derek ordered his drink, and lingered by the counter while it was being prepared, flirting with the barista. On his way out Derek spotted Stiles sitting by himself in the back. Derek hesitated then walked over to the other man.

“Hey, Stiles,” Derek said.

Stiles looked up at Derek and gave him a tight smile. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Not much,” Derek shrugged. “Just on a coffee run. You?”

“Killing time,” Stiles said.

Surprisingly Derek sat down in the chair opposite Stiles. “Killing time until what?”

It was Stiles’ turn to shrug. He didn’t really want to talk about it with Derek. “There’s a meeting down the street in half an hour,” he admitted eventually.

“A meeting?” Derek’s face scrunched up in confusion. Stiles saw the exact moment the realisation hit him. “Oh. So you’re still going to meetings. What are they like?”

Stiles shrugged again; it was all he seemed to know how to do. “They’re okay,” he said. “I don’t really share, but sometimes it’s nice to be around people who know the struggle.” Stiles fiddled with the empty sugar packet on the table. “I know it’s not your thing but you could always come with-”

Derek stood up and cut Stiles off with a quick shake of his head. “Thanks, but no.” He was not about to go to an AA meeting with Stiles of all people.

Stiles nodded. “It was just a suggestion.”

Derek tipped his coffee cup towards Stiles then left without another word.

Sitting alone again Stiles realised that was probably the most civil face to face conversation he and Derek had ever had.

*

After Stiles’ AA meeting he was back in his apartment, catching up on his social media feeds. Scrolling through his twitter notifications he saw a mention from someone he didn’t know; the tweet was a photo with a caption. Stiles clicked on the photo to see it full size and resisted the urge to throw his laptop at the wall.

The photo was of him and Derek sitting across from each other in the coffee shop. The caption read:

**_Days after denying a relationship @DHale and @S_Stilinski share a cosy coffee_ **

Stiles decided that it was his turn to call Derek about this.

Derek picked up on the third ring. “If you’re gonna try and force me to go to a meeting -”

“Have you seen your twitter mentions this afternoon?” Stiles interrupted. “And I would never force someone to go to a meeting.”

“I haven’t seen my mentions,” Derek said. “Why?”

“Check them,” Stiles ordered. “A gossip blogger got her hands on a photo of us at the coffee shop today.”

“Fuck.” Derek had Stiles on speaker and Stiles could clearly hear Derek typing. “We talked for like two minutes!”

“I know,” Stiles said. “I have no idea how she got the photo. There’s another tweet saying an anonymous source gave it to her.”

“I see it the photo.” Derek was thoroughly unimpressed. It was a slightly blurry creeper shot, but it was undoubtedly him and Stiles. Derek hadn’t realised he’d been leaning across the tale to talk to Stiles.

“Oh my God,” Stiles said quietly.

“What is it?” Derek asked.

“Go to her profile so you can see all the tweets,” Stiles said. “She just posted another photo, it’s of me. It’s me at the meeting.”

“What?” Derek sounded more outraged than Stiles had expected. He clicked onto the twitter profile and saw the photo in question. It was a close of up of Stiles’ face, no one else was pictured, and it looked like Stiles had been crying. There was no caption accompanying the picture.

“I can’t believe this,” Stiles said. It was one thing for someone to take a photo of him and Derek having coffee; that was almost comical. But this was a gross invasion of privacy. Stiles didn’t know what to do.

“This is bullshit,” Derek agreed. “You’ve probably guessed I’m not a fan of meetings, and I’m even less of a fan of you, but even I know that this is low.”

Stiles let out a small laugh at that. “Thanks,” he said. “I’m just glad that I didn’t share today.”

“What do you want to do about it?” Derek asked.

“I’m going to ask them to take the photos down,” Stiles said. He pushed his laptop away and drew his knees up to his chest; he had his phone glued to his ear. “If they refuse, and if more photos of me in meetings show up online, I’m going to threaten them with legal action. Maybe I should talk to Danny. He could hack into their twitter and flooded their followers with gay porn or something; if they’re so desperate for a gay relationship.”

Derek snorted. “I’m sure you can think of some other way to get back at them.”

Stiles perked up a little at the thought of pranking the gossip columnists and getting back at them in some way.

Derek made a strangled groaning sound and Stiles laughed. “What was that? Are you okay?” Stiles asked.

“I just checked Facebook,” Derek explained. “Mom saw the coffee date photo, as she calls it, and sent me a message about it. Do you want to hear what she said?”

“Do I want to hear what she said?” Stiles scoffed. “Of course I do.”

Derek cleared his throat and started reading. “ _Derek, I’m so happy that you and Stiles seem to be finally putting your differences aside. I know you told Laura that the two of you aren’t dating, but we both know how secretive you can be about relationships. I also know that Stiles has had some problems of his own, I hope he can help you with yours…_ ” Derek trailed off. The rest of the message went on to say how much Talia loved Derek, and Derek wasn’t about to read that out loud to Stiles.

Stiles was chuckling to himself. “I almost feel bad,” he said. “I think your mom would be really happy if we were together.”

Derek hummed in agreement. His mother loved him and just wanted him to be happy and healthy; and apparently even an alcoholic rated higher than his usual dates in Talia Hale’s book.

“I think I have a plan,” Stiles said suddenly.

“The last time I heard you say that you got into a fist fight with someone,” Derek pointed out.

“I did?” Stiles asked. “When?”

“Cora’s birthday party last year. Getting into a fight was your plan for how to get rid of a guy hitting on Lydia.”

“Oh yeah.” That night was still blurry for him, but he remembered the hangover/concussion he had the next morning, as well as the cuts and bruises on his face.

“Anyway, the plan?” Derek prompted.

“Yes the plan. The plan is to be a couple,” Stiles said. “Give them what they want.”

There was silence from Derek for a few moments then “Excuse me? Did you have a stroke? Did all the alcohol do permanent damage to your brain?”

“Okay, let me rephrase that,” Stiles backtracked. “We _pretend_ to be a couple. Say we pretend for a month; you’re mom’s happy, the gossip mongers get a story – which we can laugh at all we want – then we can have the most disastrous break up in recorded history, and never have to speak again.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you have really stupid plans?” Derek asked after a few more moments of silence.

“In my defence,” Stiles started. “Most of my previous plans were made while extremely intoxicated.”

“You sure you haven’t fallen off the wagon again?”

“I’ll be six weeks sober tomorrow.”

Derek bit his tongue to stop himself for making fun of Stiles again; six weeks was better than anything Derek had accomplished in terms of staying sober.

“You think we could fool everyone for a month?” Derek asked.

“We have to be seen in public to fool the reporters, and we have to deny it to fool our parents,” Stiles pointed out. “I have a feeling we could pull it off.”

“What do you define as a disastrous breakup?”

“Really big. Really loud. Possibly with breaking things. Preferably in a public place,” Stiles listed off the requirements. “I’m sure we’ll find something to fight about when the time comes.”

“It’s still a stupid plan,” Derek said. “But I’m in.”

“Good to have you on board, babe.”

“Don’t call me babe.” The moments the words were out of his mouth Derek regretted them.

“Whatever you say, sugarplum.”

“Goodbye, Stiles.” Derek ended the call while Stiles was too busy laughing to respond.

*

Derek and Stiles were both regular fixtures at Cora and Lydia’s parties. Over the years Cora had become pretty good at making sure the two of them didn’t spend too much time together, and at defusing any situations that arose.

So she was really not prepared for her brother and Stiles to arrive together hand in hand.

“You can let go of my hand now,” Derek muttered. “She’s seen us.”

“You ashamed to be seen with me, babe?” Stiles asked, pressing himself closer to Derek’s side. Derek wanted to punch him. Why had he agreed to go along with this?

“What the hell is going on with you two?” Cora demanded. “First you hate each other and are swearing up and down you’re not together, now this?!” she turned to her brother. “You told both mom and Laura you weren’t dating Stiles.”

“It’s my fault,” Stiles cut in. “I wanted to keep things quiet. But then those gossip bloggers kept spotting us out together.”

Derek nodded in agreement to what Stiles was saying, still trying to pry his hand surreptitiously from Stiles’ grip. Stiles was a lot stronger than he looked.

Cora narrowed her eyes, for a moment Derek thought that she was going to call them on their bluff, but then she just sighed and shook her head.

“Whatever. I’ve gave up trying to understand the two of you a long time ago.” Cora turned her back on them and returned to the party.

Derek finally managed to free his hand from Stiles’ grip and followed his sister into the party. Stiles took a breath then followed too.

Stiles didn’t know what to do without a drink in his hand.

It was his first party since being out of rehab. It was the first time he had seen most of his acquaintances in a month and a half.  

His therapist has warned against going to the party; he had said that it would be full of too many triggers. But Stiles had ignored the advice and gone anyway. He didn’t want to hide away from everyone.

It wasn’t the biggest party that Cora and Lydia had ever thrown. That honour went to the party they threw each year for their combined birthday/anniversary. They had been competing for the title of Party Queen since they had all been teenagers, now that they were dating Lydia and Cora shared the title; and they lived up to it.

Stiles lost Derek amongst the sea of people dancing and drinking, but it didn’t matter. People had seen them arrive together and that would be enough to spread the news of their ‘relationship’.

With the exception of Jackson everyone seemed happy to see Stiles. Although they all gave him the same look when he refused the drinks or pills they offered him. Their tightly pursed lips always quickly gave way to bright smiles as they told him how proud they were (the light from their smiles never reached their eyes though).

After a while Stiles headed outside, down to the boat house of Lydia’s families lake house. The noise of the party and the smell of the alcohol was overwhelming and he’d needed a small reprieve.

It wasn’t until he was sitting on the dock, his legs dangling off the edge and looking out over the water, he realised that he’d never seen this view sober before.

“I thought I’d find you down here,” a voice said behind him.

Stiles twisted around to see Lydia. “Hey Lyd’s.”

Lydia slipped off her heels and came over to sit beside Stiles. “Needed a break, huh?”

Stiles nodded. “Just a small one.”

“I was kinda surprised to see you here at all,” Lydia admitted. “I though rehab meant that you’d be giving up the party scene all together.”

“I didn’t want to give up my whole life,” Stiles said. “I missed the parties. At least I thought I did.”

Lydia put a comforting hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “We’ll do some things that don’t involve tons of booze,” she promised. “Although I’m not sure your new boyfriend would appreciate that.”

Stiles thought about telling Lydia the truth for a moment, but if he told Lydia then she would tell Cora, and then everyone would know. Stiles shrugged. “I’m sure Derek will be fine with whatever plans we make.”

Lydia’s mouth pulled down into a frown and Stiles knew that she didn’t believe him. But thankfully Lydia didn’t push it any further. She stood up and squeezed Stiles’ shoulder one last time.

“Come back up to the house when you’re ready,” she said.

“I will.”

*

By the time Stiles made it back up to the house and re-joined the party, Derek was well and truly past drunk.

Of course Stiles had seen Derek drunk before, but this was the first time that Stiles hadn’t been just as drunk as Derek.

Derek was dancing with some people Stiles recognised but didn’t know the names of. He had his drink raised high and a wide smile on his face. Stiles wondered if Derek was even capable of smiling when he didn’t have drugs or alcohol in his system.

Suddenly there was an arm slung around Stiles’ shoulders and a drunk voice slurring in his ear.

“Are you really with Derek Hale?” Isaac asked.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah.” It’s easy to lie when they person you’re talking to can’t see straight.

“I thought for sure Scott was fucking with me,” Isaac muttered to himself and shook his head.

Stiles’ heart clenched. He wished that he’d told Scott the truth, but it really was better if no one knew.

Stiles was still watching Derek and saw the moment that another man stumbled back and knocked into Derek. Derek whirled around and shoved the other man back sharply.

“Fuck,” Stiles muttered under his breath. He ducked out from under Isaac’s arm and headed over to where the fight between Derek and the other man was intensifying.

Stiles got between the men and pushed them apart. “That’s enough!” he said loudly.

There was a girl tugging on the other man’s arm, and between her and Stiles they got the two men to back down from the confrontation.

Stiles looked at Derek. “Let’s go home, yeah?” He plucked Derek’s drink out of his hand – it was still half full of whiskey – and Stiles was hit with the sudden desire to drink it. He shoved the glass into a passer-by’s hand and pulled Derek away from the crowd.

Derek followed Stiles out of the house with no arguments; Stiles found it a little odd, but he didn’t push his luck by questioning Derek.

They had arrived together in Derek’s car and there was an awkward moment where Stiles had to dig through Derek’s pockets to find the keys.

Stiles got Derek in the passenger’s seat, then jogged around the front of the car and climbed into the drivers’ seat. Derek suddenly leaned over and grabbed Stiles by the sleeve of his shirt.

“You haven’t been drinking, right?” Derek demanded, words slurring together a little.

“Derek, I’m sober, remember?” Stiles spoke slowly. “I haven’t been drinking.”

“Promise?”

“I haven’t been drinking,” Stiles repeated.

“You have to promise me,” Derek said. “You have to promise you aren’t drunk.” His grip on Stiles tightened.

There was something in Derek’s expression that made Stiles’ stomach drop. He looked scared and sad.

“Yeah, okay.” Stiles gently pried Derek’s hand away. “I promise. I’m totally sober.”

Derek slumped back into his seat. Stiles shook his head to refocus himself and started the car.

It wasn’t until they hit the outskirts of the city that Stiles realised he had no idea where Derek lived. Well, he had a vague idea of which building Derek lived in, but he couldn’t be sure.

Stiles glanced at Derek. “Looks like you’re staying at my place tonight.” Derek just grunted in response, too out of it to form a real reply. Stiles smiled to himself; he couldn’t wait to see how Derek would react waking up hung over in Stiles’ apartment.

*

Derek woke up with a dry mouth and a pounding headache.

So a normal Sunday for him.

Except then he rolled over and came face to face with a still sleeping Stiles. That had definitely never happened before.

Derek blinked a few times and tried to remember what had happened at the party. He remember drinking. He remembered not seeing Stiles for a while. He remembered dancing. But everything else was blank. He must have blacked out.

Derek noticed that Stiles was shirtless and quickly threw back the covers; groaning in pain at the sudden movement. He was still clothed in his boxer and t-shirt. That was a good sign.

He didn’t recognise the room they were in, and it took Derek about a minute of staring at the unfamiliar surroundings for the realisation that they had to be in Stiles’ room to hit him.

Derek slumped back against the bed and closed his eyes. He had no idea what time it was. Maybe he could get some more sleep before Stiles woke up.

Derek’s sleep was short lived however. Before he knew it Stiles was screaming in his ear.

“Good morning, sunshine!”

Derek groaned and buried his head under the pillow. “You’re an awful person.”

Stiles laughed. “Totally worth it.” He stood up and started getting dressed.

Stiles was pulling on a pair of sweatpants when a phone started ringing.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Derek grumbled.

“It’s your phone, dumbass,” Stiles said. “It’s on the bedside table next to you.”

Derek blindly reached out and grabbed the phone. He pulled it under the pillow with him and answered. “Hello?” He shot up in surprise when he heard the voice on the other end of the phone. “Yes, good morning Mayor Stilinski.”

Stiles whirled around stared at Derek with wide eyes. Derek just shrugged helplessly.

Stiles could only hear Derek’s side of the conversation and it drove him insane.

“Yes, Sir,” Derek said. “We did go to the party together last night…No, Sir he didn’t drink. I _swear_ … I know how important his sobriety is and I would never try and force him to break it.” Derek was looking at Stiles and Stiles smiled a little at that comment. “Yes I was drinking…Stiles actually brought me home before the party finished…We’re at his place…He’s in the shower right now, I can get him to call you back?” Stiles breathed a sigh of relief, he didn’t want to deal with the interrogation right now. “Okay Sir...You have a good day too, Sir. Goodbye.”

Derek threw the phone on the bed and fell back against the mattress. “Your dad wants you to call him.”

“How does my dad even have your number?” Stiles asked the first question that came to mind.

“He said he got it from my mom,” Derek explained. “I guess Cora wasted no time in letting everyone know we were at the party together. I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Stiles snorted. “He’s been listening to me complain about you since I was a teenager. I think he’s a little biased. I just thought him being a politician and not a cop now would mean no more interrogating my boyfriends.”

“Once a cop always a cop,” Derek shrugged. “I remember the time he made that boyfriend you had when you and Cora were juniors, cry. What was his name? Paul?”

“Pete,” Stiles corrected. He had to agree to the once a cop always a cop comment. His dad might wear suits and run the city, but he was still a cop through and through. He was different to the other politicians; that was part of what got him elected.

Derek rubbed a hand across his face and closed his eyes. “If I didn’t already have a headache from the hangover, talking to your dad would have given me one.”

“Shit,” Stiles muttered. “Wait here.” He darted into the bathroom and filled a glass of water and grabbed the untouched packet of Tylenol from the medicine cabinet.

Derek cracked an eye open when he heard Stiles set the glass down. “Thanks.”

“I know you usually like to cure your hangovers with a little hair of the dog but,” Stiles waved his hand around. “Dry apartment and all that.”

Derek sat up slowly and took a drink of water. “Its fine, thanks.” He frowned a little.

“What is it?” Stiles asked. “You’re not going to throw up are you? Because if you do you’re cleaning it up.”

“I was just thinking for two people who don’t like each other, we sure know a lot about each other.” Derek shook his head. “Fuck, I sound like Laura.”

Stiles shrugged nonchalantly even though he could feel his cheeks heating up. “Cora and I have been friends for ages, and our parents are close, and we run in the same circles. It’s really not that surprising.”

“Yeah,” Derek sat up. “You’re probably right.” He tried not to think about how comfortable he felt in Stiles’ apartment; in Stiles’ bed.

There was a pause where neither of them knew what to say. Then Derek cleared his throat. “I should probably go. And you should probably call your dad back.”

Stiles nodded in agreement. He turned to leave the room so Derek could have privacy getting dressed, but paused in the doorway. “Hey, Derek?”

“Yeah?” Derek looked up from where he was searching for his jeans amongst Stiles’ clothes.

“Do you remember any of what you said last night on the drive home?”

“No?” Derek stretched out the word, arching an eyebrow at Stiles. “Why?”

“You don’t remember freaking out on me?”

“I freaked out?”

“You were really weird, I had to keep reassuring you I hadn’t been drinking and wasn’t going to drive drunk.”

The look of confusion on Derek’s face was replaced by the same mix of fear and sadness that had graced his features the night before. Derek dropped his eyes back down to the ground, he cleared his throat again and the sarcastic tone was back.

“I guess I wasn’t convinced you’d be able to stay sober.”

“Well I did, so,” Stiles finished his sentence by flipping Derek the bird. He didn’t push the issue even though he could tell Derek wasn’t telling the truth.

Derek dressed quickly, and left Stiles’ apartment with only a brief goodbye. He almost felt like he was leaving after a one night stand.

Once Stiles was alone he sat on the edge of the bed where Derek had been lying with his phone in his hands, preparing to call his dad back and the conversation that would ensue. He was starting to think he may have gotten himself in over his head.

*

The text from Derek Stiles received the following Tuesday caught Stiles by surprise.

 **[From Derek]:** mom wants to have you over for dinner tonight.

In retrospect Stiles really should have seen that coming. That’s what real couples did, right? Meet each other families?

 **[From Stiles]:** uh, ok. What time?

 **[From Derek]:** 7?

 **[From Stiles]:** that works. any dress code?

 **[From Derek]:** neat casual should be fine. its not gonna be a really formal thing. just family.

 **[From Stiles]:** ok cool. ill see u tonight

 **[From Derek]:** see u tonight

Stiles put his phone down a bit his lip. He had met the Hale’s before, he had been to their house countless times over the years, but this was different. He wouldn’t be visiting as a friend of Cora’s, or as the Mayor’s son, but as Derek’s boyfriend. 

Even though Stiles knew that the relationship was fake, and in three weeks this game would be over, he suddenly felt intense pressure to impress the Hale’s.

*

Stiles arrived at the Hales at 6:50pm, a bouquet of flowers in hand for Talia.  He knew that a bottle of wine was a more traditional gift, but he hoped given the circumstances the Hale’s would understand his reluctance to buy alcohol and bring it with him.

Talia opened the door and accepted the flowers with a gracious smile. “I’ll have to put these in some water right away. Everyone else is in the den, you remember the way don’t you?”

“Of course,” Stiles nodded.

“Fantastic,” Talia said, bright smile never wavering. “Dinner is still a few minutes away, so go ahead and join the others, I’ll be there in a moment.” 

Stiles nodded again. The entry way split off in two directions, Stiles headed left to the den, while Talia went right, towards the kitchen.

Even though he hadn’t visited in a while the den was exactly how Stiles remembered it. The room was comfortably furnished with low leather couches, the side tables, bookshelves, and the mantel piece were deep mahogany wood.

Derek stood when he saw Stiles enter the room. He greeted Stiles with a hug that Stiles returned as naturally as he could.

Once Derek let go of Stiles, Cora and Laura both smiled at Stiles. 

“Nice to see you again, Stiles,” Laura said.

“It’s good to see you too, Laura,” Stiles told her.

“It’s been a while since you visited,” Derek’s father noted, offering his hand for Stiles to shake.

“Too long,” Stiles agreed, shaking the older man’s hand.

Both Laura and Cora were eyeing Derek and Stiles suspiciously and Derek noticed the scrutiny from his sisters. He reached down and took Stiles’ hand in his. Stiles threaded his fingers through Derek’s without thinking about it, shifting closer to Derek.

“So you’ve been together for, what? Almost three weeks now?” Derek’s father asked.

Stiles took a breath, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. “That’s right.” He and Derek had worked out a timeline. They had been dating since just before the charity event, but had only been public since Cora and Lydia’s party.

“You’ve known each other all these years, yet you only get together now.” The elder Hale mused. It wasn’t framed as a question, but Stiles knew he was expected to answer.

“I guess it took us a while to come to terms with how we felt,” Stiles said.

Derek squeezed Stiles hand, warning him not to spread it on too thick.

“Took you a while to stop being stubborn assholes,” Cora added.

“Cora!” Talia admonished from the doorway, entering just in time to hear her daughters’ language.

“They _are_ stubborn assholes,” Laura said, coming to her sisters’ aid.

“They are your brother and our guest,” Talia reminded her. “Be polite.” Before Laura could get another word in Talia continued. “It looks like we’re just about ready to serve dinner. If you’d all like to make your way to the dining room?”

Stiles and the three other Hales followed Talia to the dining room. Derek and Stiles held hand the entire way there, only letting go so they could sit down. Derek and Stiles sat side by side on one side of the table, Laura and Cora sat opposite them, Derek’s father sat at the head of the table, while Talia sat opposite her husband at the foot of the table.

The food that was already laid out on the table looked amazing. Stiles recognised the place settings, he knew that they were missing a matching soup bowl because he had been there when Scott had broken it when they were 14.

Stiles noted the lack of wine on the table and felt a mixture of relief and guilt. He was relieved that Talia was considerate enough not to have alcohol served around an alcoholic, but he also felt bad that he was depriving the Hale’s of something they would usually have with a meal.

Stiles was honestly surprised by how easily he slipped into casual conversation with the Hales as they all began to eat. It was far from his first meal at the Hales, but it was the first time he had been invited under such circumstances. He had always just been a friend of Cora’s, and the other Hales had welcomed him easily.

When Talia mentioned how happy she was that Stiles and Derek were happy together the small ball of guilt in Stiles’ stomach grew. When he had come up with this plan he hadn’t been prepared for the guilt he’d feel lying to everyone.

“So, Stiles, how have you been feeling since your,” Talia paused, searching for the right word to use. “Treatment?”

“Good,” Stiles nodded. He ducked his head and focused on his plate, hyper aware that all eyes were on him. “Um. Some days are harder than others, you know? But I’m doing well.” He forced himself too look up and meet Talia’s gaze. She was looking at him with nothing but pure care and concern.

Stiles tightened his grip on his fork. Now he felt even worse for lying.

“I’m glad you’re doing well,” Talia told him. “We all are.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said quietly, looking back down.

He was uncomfortable talking about his rehab experience and recovery, and combining that with the guilt he was feeling made Stiles wish that the floor would open and swallow him up.

Derek reached his hand out under the table, he found Stiles’ knee and squeezed it reassuringly. Stiles reached under the table, placed his hand over Derek’s and returned the squeeze, silently thanking Derek.

Stiles removed his hand, Derek followed suit, and they both returned to their meal. However for the rest of the evening they exchanged fleeting, feather light touches whenever the conversation strayed to topics that made one of them uncomfortable.

*

After dinner Derek walked Stiles out to his car.

“That went better than expected,” Derek said.

“Do you think they’re buying it?” Stiles asked.

“Mom and dad are,” Derek nodded. “I don’t think Cora really cares, but Laura’s still suspicious.”

“You think she’ll try and call our bluff?”

Derek shook his head. “I think she’s just suspicious about the timing. She’s probably just trying to figure out why we’ve chosen now to come clean.” He paused and scratched the back of his neck. “What are the chances we’re going to have to do this again with your dad?”

“Slim,” Stiles admitted. “Dad’s been really busy, working late nights and all that. If he brings it up I can probably stall and put it off, and then we’ll break up before we actually get around to it.”

“Great,” Derek said. He did like the mayor, but he would definitely prefer to avoid any more awkward family dinners.

Stiles looked over Derek’s shoulder back at the house and noticed the curtain in one of the windows move. “I think your sisters are spying on us.”

Derek closed his eyes and took in a breath to compose himself. “I bet its Laura. Sometimes I can’t believe she’s the oldest.”

Stiles put his hand on the back of Derek’s head and moved in close, he put his other hand on Derek’s hip. Derek opened his eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not actually going to kiss you,” Stiles assured him. “But from this angle your sisters won’t be able to tell.”

Derek put his hands on Stiles’ hips and angled his head a little. There was barely any space between them and Derek could feel Stiles’ warm breath.

“What happens when we’re put in a situation where we’re actually expected to kiss?” Derek asked. He pulled back and straightened up, but he didn’t move his hands from Stiles’ hips, and Stiles’ hand was still on the back of his head.

“You’ve never been the type of guy to do PDA, so I don’t think people are really expecting that from you,” Stiles said. “Besides I’m sure you’ve kissed people who are more questionable than me before.”

“Debatable,” Derek said. He let go of Stiles and stepped back out of Stiles’ reach. “Have a safe drive home.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said. “Have a good night, Derek.”

Derek stood and watched Stiles drive away, waiting until Stiles’ was out of sight before he headed back inside.

*

Having a casual lunch with Derek was something Stiles never imagined happening in his life. However they had been ‘dating’ for almost three weeks now and they were finding it easier to be around each other. They had both decided it would be good for them to be seen in public together.

Derek hadn’t been picky about where they should eat, so he left that choice up to Stiles.

Stiles picked a diner downtown. It was a small place, but it was busy, and somewhere that he frequented, so he knew someone would spot them there.

Stiles arrived first and he was already seated and had a coffee in front of him when Derek walked in. Stiles took one look at Derek’s pale complexion, his dishevelled clothes, and the fact that he was wearing sunglasses inside and right away realised the reason that Derek was late.

“You’re hungover aren’t you?” Stiles asked.

Derek held up a hand. “Don’t you dare lecture me.”

“Not going to lecture you,” Stiles said. “I was just going to suggest you order the bacon cheeseburger and fries. Lots of grease and carbs, perfect for a hangover cure.”

Derek took of his glasses, placing them on the table. “Thanks.”

“Was it a good party?”

Derek blinked at Stiles while he processed the question, then shook his head. “There was no party. I was just at home.”

Stiles nodded in understanding. “You doing okay?”

Derek shrugged. He kept his eyes locked on the table, refusing to make eye contact with Stiles.

When the waitress came over to take their order, Derek took Stiles’ advice and ordered the bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a coffee. Stiles ordered the same.

“I got offered a new modelling job,” Derek said suddenly.

“That’s great!” Stiles exclaimed. He saw the way that Derek’s mouth was turned down and how is brow was furrowed. “Isn’t it?”

“It is,” Derek nodded slowly. “But.”

“But?” Stiles prompted when Derek trialled off.

“It’s nothing really,” Derek said. “The job is just out of town, that’s all. It’s booked for next weekend.”

“You mean the date we agreed on to end this? How dare you choose a job over our fake breakup?” Stiles teased.

Derek rolled his eyes but a smile tugged at his lips. “So we’re either going to have to do it early, or wait until I get back Sunday night.”

“We can wait,” Stiles said. “A couple of days extra won’t kill us, especially if you’re not even going to be in town.”

“Okay, we wait,” Derek agreed easily.

The waitress returned with their meals and Stiles thanked her eagerly, moving his coffee out of the way so she could set their plates down. The almost non-existent wait time was one of the things Stiles loved about this place.

Derek slouched back in his chair and picked at the fries on his plate. His head was throbbing, and he still felt a little nauseous, but he was starting to feel better.

Stiles picked up his burger and grinned over the top of it at Derek before taking a huge bite. Derek rolled his eyes but grinned at Stiles and picked up his own burger.

“Do you have somewhere to be?” Derek asked a little while later, after the third time he saw Stiles checking the time on his phone.

“Sorry,” Stiles said. “There’s a meeting down the street that I was thinking about going to, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Derek fiddled with his almost empty coffee cup. “You should have said something. I don’t want to keep you here if you want to go.”

“It’s fine,” Stiles said. “It doesn’t start for another fifteen minute. I was just debating about whether I wanted to go. I haven’t been to a meeting this week.”

Derek was surprised by that. Stiles had been really good about attending regular meetings. It wasn’t like him to skip them. Most of their hangouts over the previous three weeks had been scheduled around the meetings Stiles’ had been attending.

“How come?” Derek asked.

Stiles shrugged. “Ever since that creeper shot got posted to twitter I’ve felt less and less comfortable going to meetings. Even with my sponsor around I still feel uncomfortable.”

“I could go with you?” Derek offered.

Stiles blinked in disbelief at Derek. “You’d do that?”

“Sure,” Derek said. “If you’re okay with it.”

Stiles nodded enthusiastically. “Of course I’m okay with it. We’ll finish up here and pay the bill, then head over?”

Derek nodded along with Stiles. “Sounds good.”

Stiles tried to reign in the grin that was spreading across his face. He had promised he’d never try and force Derek to a meeting, and he was going to stick to that promise, but if Derek was offering to come along he wasn’t going to say no.

*

Derek bounced nervously on the balls of his feet as he and Stiles waited to go sit down.

The meeting was being held in a community centre. Two older men were still arranging fold out chairs, and the other attendees were scattered around talking in small groups. At twenty-three and twenty-six Stiles and Derek were the youngest in attendance.

“You can leave if you want,” Stiles told Derek.

Derek ceased his bouncing. “No. It’s fine. I’ve just never been to one of these things. I don’t really know what to do.”

Stiles let out a small laugh. “Just sit there and listen. You don’t have to do or say anything.”

“Are you going to say anything?” Derek asked.

Stiles shrugged. “We’ll see how I feel.” He never went into meetings planning to share, when he did he usually lost his nerve and ended up staying quiet. He found it easier to go in and see what happened.

When the two men had finished with the chairs they invited for everyone to sit. Stiles lead Derek over and the two of them sat. Derek slipped his sunglasses off despite the glare of the fluorescent lights on the ceiling.

Derek sat quietly with his head bowed. As the meeting progressed and people started to share, Derek found himself listening more carefully.

One woman spoke about her promotion at work, and how she was trying to deal with the added stress without relapsing. A man in his forties talked about finally getting joint custody of his kids, about how he was staying sober to be a better father. Another man talked about how he had slipped and relapsed the month prior, but was back on track now.

Derek listened as the strangers around him shared stories about their lives, about their friends and families, about the struggles they faced every day. Next to him Stiles listened just as intently.

Stiles had decided that he didn’t want to share. Not today. He was doing well, but didn’t have anything particularly exciting that he wanted to share with the group, and he wasn’t worried enough over anything that warranted bringing it up.

Stiles looked at Derek and couldn’t help but smile. Derek’s expression was a mixture of sincere interest and compassion. Stiles had seen him fake those same emotions countless times over the years and it was refreshing to see Derek unguarded and genuine.

Silently Stiles reached out, taking one of Derek’s hands in his. Derek didn’t pull away, he entwined their fingers and looked up at Stiles, returning the small smile Stiles gave him.

*

Both Derek and Stiles had expected going in that after almost a month of pretending to date they’d be ready to rip each other’s throats out. What they hadn’t been expecting was to be willingly hanging out on a Monday afternoon, sitting on Stiles’ couch watching a movie.

Stiles sat cross legged at one end of the couch. He looked away from the TV and at Derek. “Are you ever going to tell me the truth?” He asked.

Derek startled, looking away from the movie to Stiles. “About what?”

“About why you flipped out on me while drunk and made me promise that I wasn’t driving drunk?” Stiles had been trying to wait for a good time to ask, but then he had realised that a good time probably didn’t exist.

“Because driving drunk is fucking stupid?” Derek looked away and tried to focus back on the movie, but he could still feel Stiles’ gaze boring into the side of his head.

“Derek.” Stiles’ patience was running thin. He had tried to forget about it, but his curiosity was getting the better of him and he wasn’t going to let it go.

Derek paused the movie and sighed. “You would have been twelve then, nearly thirteen I guess since I was almost sixteen. I’m surprised you don’t remember it. Maybe it was before you and Cora were friends.”

“What happened?” Stiles pressed as gently as he could, trying to get Derek back on track.

“It was my girlfriends’ birthday,” Derek said. He didn’t look at Stiles. “Paige. She’d just turned sixteen and her parents had brought her this beautiful car. We’d been drinking and were bored. She was always a good girl, but she never backed down from a challenge. I goaded her into taking the new car out for a spin.” Derek paused, running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t think she had drunk that much, she seemed more sober than I was, but I guess she was a lightweight. We got out onto the highway and everything was going fine then she lost control. I-” a muscle jumped in Derek’s jaw and he swallowed hard. “I don’t really remember what happened. We must have flipped because the next thing I remember we were upside down in a ditch and I couldn’t move.”

“Holy shit,” Stiles breathed out. He clamped a hand over his mouth, he hadn’t meant to speak and interrupt Derek.

Derek was quiet for a few beats and Stiles wasn’t sure he’d even continue. When Derek finally did start talking again his voice was tight. He could only manage to talk in clipped sentences.

“She didn’t die right away. I found out later that a piece of metal had stabbed her in the side, and she had massive internal bleeding. We were both pinned, and neither of us had a phone to call for help. I held her hand while she bled out next to me. By the time someone noticed the wreck and called 911 Paige was already gone.”

This time when Derek stopped talking Stiles knew he was finished. Stiles didn’t know what to say. He didn’t think there was anything he _could_ say in a situation like that. So he didn’t say a word. Instead he put his hand on Derek’s shoulder and squeezed.

The touch brought Derek out of his memories and back to himself. He finally looked at Stiles with red ringed eyes, tears threatening to spill over at any moment.

Stiles’ heart lurched. This was the first time he’d ever seen Derek look so _exposed_. Stiles pulled Derek into a hug and the older man moved willingly. Stiles petted Derek’s hair with one hand, his fingers trailing through the short locks.

Derek buried his face into Stiles’ chest and took a shaky breath. He wasn’t crying, but he was close to it. It had been a long time since he had talked to anyone about Paige, or even really allowed him to think about that night in detail. Stiles’ arms around him grounded him, giving him something to focus on other than his memories.

For a few minutes Derek let himself get lost in the soothing sensation of Stiles’ fingers carding through his hair, and the steady rise and fall of Stiles’ chest. He pulled away from Stiles, cheeks flushing from embarrassment over how intimate the moment had been.

He and Stiles may be friends now, they may be more comfortable with each other, but Derek had to remind himself that they weren’t really dating. That he had no right seeking comfort in Stiles’ arms like that. He wiped at his eyes and moved back further.

Stiles let Derek go even though he didn’t really want to. It was genuine concern that had prompted Stiles into pulling Derek in for a hug in the first place, but it was pure selfishness that saw him let go only when Derek pulled away first. Stiles would have been content to sit there holding Derek for as long as the older man had allowed.

Derek cleared his throat. “So now you know.”

“I’m sorry,” Stiles said, the words feeling utterly inadequate and incapable of expressing everything he wanted to say.

“I’m glad you know.” Derek shrugged, aiming for casual, but it fell flat. “Honestly, I thought you knew.”

“I remember you were in a car crash,” Stiles told him. “But I think that was just after Cora and I started hanging out. I never got any of the details.” He didn’t know Derek had been drinking that night. He didn’t know that someone had _died_.

Derek glanced at the TV where the movie was still paused. “Can we keep watching?”

Stiles nodded. “Definitely.”

Derek moved so he could un-pause the movie, then settled back down on the couch.

The two men turned their attention back to the movie, sitting closer together than they had been earlier.

*

On Wednesday they decided to hang out at Derek’s apartment. It was the last chance they had to hang out before Derek had to leave the next night.

Stiles lay on Derek’s bed, scrolling through his phone, while Derek dug through his closet, trying to decide what to pack.

A snort of laughter from Stiles distracted Derek from his critical analysis of two different black sweatshirts.

“What’s so funny?” Derek asked.

“There’s a poll on BH Digital asking people to vote on how long they think we’ll be together.” Stiles paused, and pointed at the sweatshirt in Derek’s left hand. “I like that one.”

Derek rolled his eyes. “Do they really have nothing better to do? Don’t _you_ have anything better to do?”

“Do you wanna know what popular opinion is at the moment?”

Derek dropped the sweatshirt Stiles had chosen into the suitcase at his feet, and tossed the other one onto the floor of his closet. “Yeah. Go on, tell me.”

“Most people think we’ll make it another month before imploding,” Stiles said.

“Is there an option that we won’t make it ‘til next week?” Derek asked.

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, actually. Only three people have voted for that option so far.”

“Well those are three very intuitive people,” Derek said dryly. “Also these people really don’t have a lot of faith in our relationship.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Stiles said. “I mean, neither of us have the best track record with relationships.”

“Maybe _you_ don’t,” Derek shrugged.

Stiles snorted. “Name one relationship you’ve had that didn’t end in a massive fight,” he challenged. As soon as the words left his mouth Stiles thought about Paige, but if Derek’s mind went to the same place his face didn’t betray his emotions.

Derek decided to play along and thought about it for a moment. “Kate.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped open. “Kate? Kate Argent? That didn’t end in a fight because it ended with her getting _arrested_.”

Derek held up his hands. “Stiles, I was kidding. Trust me, I remember how badly that one ended. Besides, that doesn’t count as a real relationship.”

Stiles had to give Derek that one. Kate had been a teacher, and when they met Derek was 17 and a student in her English class. It had been a pretty big scandal. Stiles had never really heard Derek talk about her, but he knew the story. Kate had seduced Derek, and things had turned sour pretty soon after. Kate had become aggressive and very possessive. From what Stiles knew, Laura was the one to find out about the ‘relationship’ and spill the beans. Thankfully because of the Hales influence, and Derek’s status as a minor, Derek’s name had been kept out of the media. Kate had been arrested and disgraced.

“You do have a point,” Derek admitted. “We both really suck with relationships.” He laughed suddenly. “This is probably the healthiest relationship I’ve had in a while.”

Derek shrugged again and turned back to his closet, signalling that he was done with the conversation.

Stiles bit his lip and looked back at his phone; the BH Digital poll was still open. There were five options people could choose from:

  *          Will break up by Monday
  *          A month tops
  *          Six months
  *          A year or more
  *          It’s forever



He had laughed at first. The whole thing was ridiculous. None of these people voting actually knew him and Derek. How could they know how long they’d last? Hell, everyone who did know them had no idea that they were going to break up. But as Stiles looked at the lone (1) next to _“It’s forever”_ his mind wandered.

Where would he and Derek even be in a month? In six months? In a year? Would they still be talking? Or would they go back to only interacting when they were forced to? Stiles’ stomach dropped at that prospect. Being together had become so easy over the last few weeks. He liked hanging out with Derek, and he had to assume Derek liked hanging out with him too. He wasn’t sure he was ready to give it up yet, or at all.

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice broke Stiles out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?” Stiles looked up at Derek.

“I asked if you wanted to go get some lunch soon. I’m almost done here,” Derek said. “I was thinking of going to that deli over on 8th street that you like.”

Stiles closed out of the webpage on his phone and put the device down. “Sounds great. You need any help with that?” Stiles nodded at the suitcase at Derek’s feet. Derek hadn’t been folding clothes, just tossing them in, and now articles of clothing were spilling out over the edges and there was a lone shoe on top.

“You any good at folding?” Derek asked.

“Nope.” Stiles hopped up off the bed. “But I am a master of squashing stuff into suitcases.”

Derek laughed. “Close enough.”

The two men knelt on the floor and started rearranging the clothes in the small suitcase. Despite his claims Stiles did actually pull out a t-shit and start folding it.

*

Never in a million years did Stiles think that he’d start missing Derek. It was ridiculous.

The past few weeks the two of them had been spending more and more time together, and especially after the confessions they had made to each other, had started to grow closer.

So now Stiles was missing Derek even though the other man had only been out of town for a grand total of 8 hours, and would only be gone three days altogether.

It was late on Friday night when Stiles decided to text Derek.

 **[From Stiles]:** is it weird to say I kinda miss having u around?

It took a few minutes for Derek to reply.

 **[From Derek]:** kinda

A second message came right after.

 **[From Derek]:** but I miss u too

Stiles bit his lip to stop himself from smiling even though he was alone.

 **[From Stiles]:** how’s the shoot going?

 **[From Derek]:** pretty good. We’re finished for the day now, but it’ll be an early morning tomorrow and probably a long night. How have u been?

 **[From Stiles]:** im ok, bored tho, that’s why I decided to bug u

Stiles was a little surprised when his phone vibrated in his hand indicating an incoming call. Caller ID showed Derek’s name.

Stiles answered the call with a small “Hey.”

“Hey,” Derek echoed. “I figured calling might be easier than texting back and forth.”

 “It’s okay, you can admit it, you missed hearing my voice,” Stiles teased.

“Shut the fuck up, Stiles,” Derek said.

“Hey!” Stiles protested. “That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend.”

For the first time Derek didn’t remind Stiles that they weren’t actually in a relationship. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Stiles, baby, darling, the light of my life, please shut the fuck up?”

Stiles laughed at the overtop use of pet names. “Better.”

“So there’s really nothing going on tonight?” Derek asked.

“There’s always _something_ going on in Beacon Hills,” Stiles admitted. “But nothing that interests me enough to actually leave the apartment. Cora and Lydia have something planned for Sunday night though since your parents are going to be out of town. You’ll be back in time for that right?”

“Yeah, course I will,” Derek assured him.

“Good.”

There was a pause before Derek spoke again. “You should have come with me. You’d probably still be bored while I was working, but at least you’d be bored in a different city.”

“I should have,” Stiles agreed. “I haven’t been away in ages.”

“I guess being stuck in rehab doesn’t really count as a holiday,” Derek said.

“It really doesn’t.”

“Next,” Derek started, then paused again. “I was going to say that you should come with me next time I have a job out of town, but I guess if we’re gonna break up then explaining a trip away together would be difficult.”

“We don’t have to,” Stiles said. “I mean, we don’t have to make the break up huge like we were planning.”

“We could tell people we work better as friends,” Derek interjected.

“Exactly,” Stiles said. 

Derek laughed suddenly.

“What’s so funny?” Stiles asked.

“The whole point of this was to spend _less_ time together,” Derek said.

“It was,” Stiles conceded. “But we never said the plan couldn’t change. I like hanging out with you.”

“I really like hanging out with you too,” Derek admitted after a moment of silence.

Stiles worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “Do you ever think,” he trailed off, unable to finish the question.

“Do I ever think what?” Derek prompted.

“Do you ever think that people are right about us? That we’d be good as a couple?” Stiles asked. “Like, for real?”

Derek was quiet for so long Stiles had to actually check that he hadn’t hung up.

“I don’t know,” Derek said slowly. “I spent a long time convinced we couldn’t even be friends let alone a couple, but.”

“But?” Stiles repeated, hope rising in his chest.

“But maybe now that we _are_ friends, being something more doesn’t sound too bad.”

“I – same,” Stiles said lamely, at a complete loss for words.

“This is probably something we should talk about in person, you know, face to face,” Derek said.

“Yeah,” Stiles agreed. “You sure you can’t get back before Sunday?”

“Unfortunately Sunday is the earliest I can get out of here,” Derek told him. “But I’ll drive straight from here to mom and dads. We can talk at the party, yeah?”

“That sounds good,” Stiles said. “I should probably let you sleep now since you have a long day tomorrow.”

Derek wanted to argue. He didn’t really want to stop talking to Stiles just yet, but he knew Stiles was right. He was not a morning person and if he stayed up any later then he’d be miserable when he had to get up for the shoot.

“Okay,” Derek said. “I’ll talk to you soon, Stiles.”

“Talk to you soon,” Stiles echoed. “Have fun with the rest of the shoot, and I’ll see you Sunday.”

“See you Sunday.” Derek forced himself to hang up before in interjected with something else and kept the conversation going.

*

Stiles and Derek exchanged texts through the day on Saturday. Just small, casual messages about how their days were going when Derek found the time to check his phone.

Sunday however was a different story. Stiles tried texting Derek, but got no reply. He even tried calling, but there was no answer.

He tried not to worry about it too much. It wasn’t unusual for Derek to drop off the radar and stop answering messages or calls for a while. Derek had never done this to Stiles before, but Stiles knew from Cora that when Derek was working it was hard to get in contact with him sometimes.

Besides, Stiles reasoned to himself, they were going to talk that night at the party. Derek was probably busy finishing up with the shoot, or even driving back. Stiles tried to convince himself that Derek’s silence didn’t have to mean something was wrong.

*

The first hint that something was indeed wrong was the look of sympathy and pity that Isaac gave to Stiles upon Stiles’ arrival at the party. It was an expression Stiles had never seen on Isaac’s face before, and it made his gut clench.

Stiles’ suspicion that something was wrong was confirmed by Lydia pulling him into a tight hug and asking “are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be alright?” Stiles asked. He pulled back out of the hug and saw Allison standing behind Lydia. “What’s going on? Why is everyone acting so weird?”

“You haven’t seen?” Lydia asked.

“Seen _what_?” Stiles was getting frustrated now. A small group had gathered around him and the two girls, clearly waiting to see his reaction to whatever they were all talking about.

Lydia pulled out her phone. “Cora didn’t really want me to show you this. But I think you should see it.”

Stiles stared wide-eyed and speechless at the photograph Lydia had pulled up.

The grainy image showed Derek in a passionate embrace with a redheaded woman in a club.

“There’s more,” Lydia said. She took the phone from and flipped through the camera roll before handing it back.

The second image was better quality. This time Derek was lying on a hotel bed, back to the camera, white sheets barely covering the lower half of his body. There were obvious nail scratches down his back; red marks bisecting the black ink of Derek’s tattoo.

“Who?” Stiles asked. His mouth refusing to cooperate and let him ask more articulate questions.

“She’s a model who was on the shoot with Derek,” Lydia explained. She carefully pried the phone out of Stiles’ shaking hands. “She posted these to twitter a couple of hours ago.”

“Where’s Derek?”

“Not here yet,” Lydia told him. “I don’t know if he’s actually going to show up after this.”

“Are you okay?” Allison asked, it was the first time she had spoken so far.

“I don’t know.” Stiles admitted. “I need some air.”

He pushed him away from the small crowd and down the hall. His heart was thundering in his chest as he climbed the stairs, looking for the closest room with a lock on the door.

Once he was locked away from the rest of the world in a guest bedroom Stiles finally let out a breath.

He was embarrassed – humiliated, even – that he was the last person to know about this. He was angry, partly at Derek, but mostly at himself. He felt like an idiot for thinking that he and Derek might actually have something real. He felt hurt and betrayed. So many emotions were hitting him at once and he didn’t know where to focus.

“I should have fucking known,” Stiles muttered to himself.  He should have known that this arrangement with Derek was going to end in disaster one way or another.

It took a while for Stiles to calm himself down, but finally he managed it. He reasoned to himself that this was a good thing. The plan was always to break up, and this was the perfect way to achieve that.

A knock at the door caught Stiles’ attention. “Yeah?”

“It’s just me,” Lydia’s voice came through the door.

Stiles walked over and unlocked the door, pulling it open to reveal Lydia.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up that Derek’s here,” she told him.

“Thanks, Lyd’s,” Stiles said.

“Are you going to come down stairs?”

Stiles thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I should talk to him.”

“You don’t have to,” Lydia said. “No one would blame you if you just left.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said again. “But I do have to. I want to.”

Lydia didn’t say anything else, she just stepped out of the doorway so Stiles could pass.

*

Downstairs the music was pumping out of the speakers spread strategically through the house. No one really paid attention to Stiles as he made his way through the crowd to the kitchen. While Stiles had been upstairs people had become bored and forgotten about the drama that had been unfolding.

Derek was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter by the back door, when Stiles walked in.

“Stiles, can we-” Derek didn’t get the full question out before Stiles was interrupting him.

“Shut the fuck up!” Stiles snapped.

“Stiles,” Derek tried again. He looked around at the other people in the kitchen who had all stopped what they were doing to stare.

Stiles couldn’t bring himself to care about the people watching. “You cheated on me?!”

This had been the plan, right? The breakup was supposed to be big, loud, and in public.

Derek grabbed Stiles by the arm and dragged him out the back door. The backyard was deserted, and Derek pulled Stiles off the back porch and onto the grass; away from the house in case people were trying to listen in.

“What is wrong with you?” Stiles demanded, wrenching his arm out of Derek’s grip.

“I needed to talk to you,” Derek said. “Alone.”

“I didn’t mean about dragging me out of there!” Stiles scrubbed a hand across his face. “Although that was really rude. What I meant is what the hell is wrong with you sleeping around?! I know we were planning to break up anyway but.” Stiles let out a humourless laugh and shook his head. “But I thought maybe we had something real, that this wasn’t just an act anymore. I guess I was wrong if you’re going around fucking random skanks.”

“I got scared!” Derek said, a lot louder than he had intended. “I realised how hard I was falling for you and I freaked out, okay?!”

Stiles took a step back. “You realised you were falling for me, so you went out a slept with another person? Yeah, sure, that makes perfect sense.”

“The last time I was in love with someone was Kate.” Derek ran a hand through his hair and took a shaky breath. “The last time I felt this way it turned out I was being used and manipulated.” Stiles opened his mouth but Derek held up a hand and signalled for him to stay quiet. “I _know_ that’s not what you’re doing. I know you’re not going to hurt me. But can you understand why these feelings might freak me out?”

Derek looked at Stiles before continuing. “I panicked and I fucked up, I know I did, and all I want is a chance to fix it.”

Stiles clenched his jaw. “What happened last night?” He was angry, so incredibly angry, but a small part of him wanted to hear Derek out.

“She was hitting on me the entire shoot, then after we wrapped a bunch of us went out to get drinks. I’d been thinking about you the whole weekend, I was excited to come home. But the drunker I got the more I thought about how things could go wrong. I started thinking about Kate, about,” Derek took a breath. “She found me sitting by myself at the bar, I was already drunk by that point, but she kept buying me drinks and hitting on me. I honestly don’t even remember leaving the bar. I can only vaguely remember her kissing me.”

A muscle jumped in Stiles jaw, like he was chewing on the angry words he wanted to spit at Derek, but the anger and venom was slowly fading. He knew Derek, he knew when the older man was lying to him, he knew what Derek was saying wasn’t a lie.

He was still angry, still hurt, but he nodded slowly. “I believe you.”

Derek was surprised at that. “Really?” Stiles was good at holding grudges, he was good at not trusting people, he was good at refusing forgiveness. Derek would have put money on Stiles punching him in the face before believing him.

“I want to believe you,” Stiles rephrased and Derek flinched a little.

“You should,” Derek told him. “I swear I’m not lying to you.”

Stiles ran a hand through his hair. “I need.” He let out a deep breath. “I need to think. I need time.”

Derek nodded without hesitation. “Of course.” He knew this wasn’t going to be resolved instantly. One declaration of love wasn’t going to make everything he had done go away.

Stiles looked at the house, a small crowd had gathered in the doorway and they weren’t even pretending that they weren’t trying to listen in on the conversation.

“I’m going to head home,” Stiles said.

Derek nodded in understanding and agreement. He felt like leaving as well.

Stiles took a step forward. He put a hand on Derek’s arm, fingers squeezing around the older mans’ bicep gently. “I believe you,” he said again, more sure this time.

*

It was four days before Derek heard from Stiles. Those days were long and hard, but Derek resisted the urge to contact Stiles first. He knew he needed to give Stiles the space he wanted.

When Stiles finally contacted Derek it was in the form of a simple, three word text message.

 **[From Stiles]:** I miss you.

Before Derek could reply a second message came in.

 **[Frome Stiles]:** it’s still weird admitting that. but its true.

 **[From Derek]:** I miss you too

 **[From Stiles]:** can I come over?

 **[From Derek]:** of course

 **[From Stiles]:** good

A sudden knock at the door startled Derek.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Derek said out loud to the empty apartment. He stood up and crossed the small space, heading for the front door. “I can’t believe you.”

Derek could hear the distinct sound of Stiles laughter muffled by the door. He unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Stiles who was grinning at him. ‘

“I knew you wouldn’t say no to me coming over.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but stepped aside so Stiles could enter.

There were a few beats of silence then Derek cleared his throat. “Are we good?”

“I’m still kinda upset,” Stiles admitted. He had moved past anger, but the hurt still lingered. “But yeah, we’re good. I just need to know you’re not going to do anything like that again.”

Derek walked towards him and placed his hands on Stiles’ hips, pulling the young man in close.

“It’ll never happen again.”

Stiles can see the sincerity written all over Derek’s face. The older man doesn’t say the words _‘I promise’_ but they’re implied.

Derek opened his mouth to say something else but Stiles silenced him with a kiss. Stiles was done with talking. He was done with being angry and upset. All he wanted to do was make out with his _boyfriend_ and forget all the stupid things that had happened.

Derek was caught off guard for a fraction of a second, then he responded eagerly to the kiss. His grip on Stiles’ hips tightened and he pulled the younger man even closer until there was no room between them.

*

A week later Stiles and Derek sat in front of their friends, finally explaining everything that had happened over the past month or so since Stiles had come up with his brilliant plan.

“So let me get this straight,” Scott said. “People thought you were dating, so you decided it would be…funny to pretend to date? So you lied to _everyone_ and this whole time you were planning to break up. Then Derek cheated on you – even though you weren’t _technically_ a couple – but you worked it out, and now you really are dating?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Stiles nodded.

The expressions on the faces of their friends ranged from angry to amused to confused. Cora however looked downright joyful.

“What are you grinning about?” Derek asked his younger sister.

“I can’t wait to tell Laura,” Cora said. “She’s never going to let you live down the fact that she was _right_. You liked Stilinski the whole time!”

In reply Derek groaned and buried his face in Stiles’ shoulder.

**Author's Note:**

> hello friends you can talk to me on [tumblr](http://heavenlyhale.tumblr.com)


End file.
